K. SATYANARAYAN forwards a news report from The Business Times section of The Straits Times, Singapore, that says Infosys founder N.R. Narayana Murthy is “eyeing a role in politics” and may indeed, be planning to revive the Swatantra Party, a tune which another Bangalore IT honcho, Jaitirth “Jerry” Rao of BFL-mPhasis, has been singing for some time now.

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2 April 2007

Indian IT mogul ‘eyeing role in politics’

Infosys founder may inject $140m into reviving old political party

By Ravi Velloor, India Bureau Chief

BUSINESS TIMES

NEW DELHI: Indian software mogul N.R. Narayana Murthy may be onsidering a move into politics, with talk that he may even bankroll the revival of an old political party.

Murthy, founding chief executive of Bangalore-based Infosys Technologies, has discussed the move with at least two prominent industrialists in recent weeks.

“Murthy asked what they thought of reviving the old Swatantra Party. He indicated he is willing to put up as much as four billion rupees of his own money for the purpose,” a person familiar with the discussions told The Straits Times.

Mr Murthy was in Zurich and was not available to comment. Responding to queries from The Straits Times, Infosys spokesman Bani Dhawan denied that Murthy planned to enter politics or set up a political party.

But well-placed sources close to the discussions think Murthy may be inclined to reconsider his options.

Infosys, the country’s No. 2 software exporter, is the bellwether of the Indian software industry. Murthy, who co-founded the company in 1981, is estimated to have a personal fortune of US$1.8 billion, according to Forbes magazine.

He stepped down as Infosys CEO last August upon turning 60, but continues as non-executive chairman and chief mentor. He also sits on the board of Singapore’s DBS Group Ltd. Murthy, who lists his heroes as Mahatma Gandhi and Singapore’s Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew, has been dogged by talk of a political career in recent months.

More recently, some people have thought he should be nominated to succeed President A.P.J. Abdul Kalam, whose term ends in July. So far, Murthy has consistently denied such ambitions.

“Politics in India is a very complex canvas with multiple divides—urban and rural, rich and poor, and educated and not so educated. I don’t think I am competent to handle such a complex canvas,” the Economic Times newspaper quoted him as saying last July.

Swatantra, which translates as Independence, was founded by the late C. Rajagopalachari, a prominent freedom fighter from southern India. Rajagopalachari opposed Nehruvian socialism and the rigid controls on free enterprise that marked Indian industry before 1991.

Founded in 1959, the Swatantra Party was, for a time, the largest opposition grouping in Parliament. In its time, it was identified with free enterprise.

Murthy’s current thinking may be influenced by a series of events. Last year, he quit the chairmanship of the Bangalore international airport project after a spat with former prime minister Deve Gowda, Karnataka state’s most influential politician, whose son is the state’s Chief Minister.

More recently, he has been worried about the Indian government’s move to widen caste-based quotas in education, seeing it as a backward step.

He also recently stepped into the raging controversy over Special Economic Zones, suggesting that the plan as currently conceived is a bad idea.

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Is it wise for Narayana Murthy to enter electoral politics? Will he succeed like he has in business, or will he be gobbled up by the bigger sharks? Will a hand in the cesspool of politics strip Infy’s founder of his shimmer? Will a party like Swatantra, which represented the interests of big business, strike a chord in a country where the vast majority is still ekeing out a living?

32 comments

I don’t know about wise, but my respect for him will certainly go up if he decides to take the plunge. That is definitely better than sitting outside and advising the politicians how to run the country. I may not still vote for him or his party, but I will atleast respect him for his decision.

If big parties, neck deep in corruption and caste-warfare are supposed to strike some sort of ‘chord’ with the ‘toiling masses’ of this country as they fly in and fly out of choppers, why not businessmen offering jobs, economic growth and the promise of a better future?

Why do we still cling to the fundamental belief that what is good for business is necessary bad for ‘the masses’?

Given the morass India’s economy found itself in throughout the 70s and 80s, perhaps the Swatantra Party wasn’t such a bad idea after all.

NRN with Swtantra Party, Subhash Chandra with ICL -WoW! This is what’s needed in Indian politics and Sports. If this continues and we get replacements for VaJpayee/ LKA, Latha/Asha, Bachhan Sr.,Super cop Gill, Das Munshi., Leander /Paes..It’s time for new blood, fresh ideas for a country whose MDs are in 40s,taking over companies abroad and whose youngsters less than 30 years old, constitute more than 60%..

It is a highly speculative report and I doubt whether NRN has the spine to jump in given the current mess of Indian politics. However one should welcome anybody who wants to take an interest in politics as the current set of people in this profession leave a lot to be desired.

Good, if he enters politics then he will be more accountable about his company’s development strategies.

before reviving the swatantra party, it is important to ask why it failed?
Was the issue of privy purse, the only agenda of Swatantra Party, I read Rajaji was discontent with Gandhi(about many issues) right from the days of Pattabhi Sitaramayya-Subash Chandra Bose’s election.

if any of you believe that the sons of the soils, rationalists, comrades, kaangressmen, socialists, hindutwa-ites, musalmeen, etc etc., have any less eye on bottomline than the big bussiness, i have a palace to sell to you.

NRN atleast isn’t as cynical as our other “leaders”. He has a positive view of the future which is lacking in most of our current political leadership.

The Swatantra party would have a much better chance at surviving now than in the hoary days of Nehruvian socialism. Between Gandhi and Nehru, India succeeded in celebrating poverty (an article by TS Satyan – “The Genius of the Indian Villager” – in this blog is an example) and deriding wealth. So an analysis of why that party failed would tell you just that.

Can any one tell me what was the agenda of the old Swatantra party? I will wait and see how this Neo Swatantra Party develops. But with NRN and Jerry Rao at its helm, I have some misgivings. I can even accept NRN but Jerry is a ‘class’ act!

DB Saar, have you seen Anbe Sivam? (Tamil, even though cinema really has no language other than its own.) When Kamal Hassan explains his idea of God, Madhavan retorts, “Look, I don’t understand your jokes, man.” I sometimes feel like that about you, budhi. There’s apparently philosophy in your humor, but sometimes the humor itself escapes me. :)

Swatantra Party was an initiative of the Indian progressives — Rajaji, K.M. Munshi, Minoo Masani, etc. Their charisma was no match for Pandit Nehru’s, but their intellect was more than a match. Sadly, intellect doesn’t win elections as well as charisma does. So they never got much popular support, even though they marshalled a futuristic libertarian agenda that was ahead of its time.

I think Swatantra Party is an excellent platform to revive, given today’s polarized politics.

NRN and Jaytirth Rao are the perfect guys to do it.

Personally, I am delighted that NRN — one of the most successful and giving business leaders our state has produced in two decades — has decided to enrich our politics by reviving a defunct party (assuming, of course, that the Straits Times report is accurate).

Thank you for the info. I think the Neo Swatantra Party is doomed to fail. It is is easy to see why–it is not only the charisma but a sincerity of purpose that attracts the voters. Granted that in India this has been perverted by our politicians.

NRN and JR lack the gut-level understanding of issues–if they did, I would not have spent my energy blogging about their attitudes. If you recall, I wrote recently what I think of Jerry’s Mumbaikar Spirit column in IE. I also wrote about NRN’s double bluff of running a professional company while grabbing cheap land by dubious means and then griping about it. These are all first-rate politicians tactics.

NSP will be very close to a party that would probably exist in Malgudi:)

“All that gentle humor, eating rice and broken wheat while getting ranks in local universities, watching Kulla getting out for a duck, leveraging the not-so-bright middleclass talents, improving shareholder equity (at the cost of poor land owners), having LKY as a hero, getting noticed of all places in Straits Times!…

talking of anbesivam. he goes on and copies an english film, then bombards us with images of marx and stalin(of all people), but would not allow bootleg copies of the film nor allow downloads of that hauntingly rendered anbe sivam song.

DB… talking of land grabbing by dubious means, if you believe that sons of soils (with their rhetoric of farmers’ plight) own any less land than INFY’s holdings all over India, then there are 50 acres of maagaaNi that I want to sell to you.

I am not holding any brief for Sons of the Soil or Soiled Sons–they too are parasites. What is maagaaNi? Is this some acronym in Kannada? Yeah sure I know all about the systematic land grabbing by Devegowda and family; and other politicos:)

To state that the Swatantra Party stood for big business and royalty would be too simplistic. Rajaji was in favour of free enterprise according to Ramachandra Guha, and coined the term “license-permit raj”. Businesses needed a platform in a time when having money was almost a crime. Strangely, the big proponents of socialism in that age were all very wealthy men including Nehru. Gandhi needed a Birla and a Bajaj to bankroll the Congress party.

BTW, has anyone seen turmoil in any country that had too much “big business”? I haven’t. But I have seen turmoil in countries where there is no business, let alone big business. I don’t know why it is so demonized.

Someone ought to invite Ramachandra Guha to write on the Swatantra party in this blog. He is Rajaji’s fan by his own admission and would know more about that party than all of us here. He might also have something to say about this speculation around NRN and JR reviving that party.

In the days of media behaving tipsy, it is better to keep these type of stories out of sight of papers like Times of India> Otherwise, they will hammer readers with wild imaginations and in poor english. They will call sms responses and further forecast is. their respose dept will also become active.

NRN and Jaithirth Rao….Not many people know that they are related in real life…they are uncle and nephew and belong to the same Nagavara clan of Madhwa brahmins…a little known fact till I wrote for the publication I was working about six years back…In this caste conscious times two brahmins trying to revive a party…ha ha ha…

Nehru’s socialism was a ‘champagne socialism’ preached and not practiced then by middle class Congress politicians. the Swathantra Party was an attempt by Rajaji to educate people the tenets of free market juxtaposed to Permit, Quota and License Raj. This appealed to educated and middleclass. Rajaji practiced what he preached but surrounded himself with those who were mere opportunists and who had no backbones. Also, the emergence of DMK in Tamil Nadu with its mass appeal and galaxy of movie stars supporting it meant the Swathantra Party in its place of birth was staring virtual annihilation within a few years and this produced rippling effect up North and the Party simply withered away. There is nothing wrong if NRN revives it, but he should learn the lesson that a party to succeed it needs mass appeal.

The NRNs & JRs of the world are sadly confined, as are their views & ideas, to less than 2% of our nations population! While we guys can indulge in this intelluctual masturbation the masses which determine the economic direction of our impoverished nation are still under the rule of rifles. While stimulating, the practicality & actual significance of NRN reviving a great philosophy which was then killed, is rife with disaster!

The death of the Swantantra Party was the greatest step backwards in the dark days of the 1970s. Its revival will be the strongest signal of India’s ability to renew itself and to sustain the gains that have been made recently. ManMohan Singh has played his role and is history now. The Nehru-Gandhi family should get lost. New leaders are needed otherwise we will surely regress. The sabre rattling by the maniacs on the Left is a clear signal of that. The revival of Swantantra Party will be a bulwark against these reactionaries on the Left.

I dont think a person who cant respece the national flag can or should lead a political party. His comments on the foreign staff in his come could not understand the national anthem was rediculous. He’s travelled far and wide and must have heard a lot of national anthem, why does he stand or put up with it and do his hosts not play it as he dosent understand it. Rajagopalchari had more vision than free enterprise and was national building. But here it seem NM was it as a medium to push his own agenda.

BJP is is in problems. BJP leadersip does not have a clue what they should do – to dump Hindutva or not. What will get them votes? While country does need an organization that takes care of Hindu interests that need not be a political party. For that matter no political party should represent a particular religion or community. What matters to the young Indian voter is economy – country’s economy. Even with such a limited choice of political parties, the Indian voter clearly demonstrated he/she does not care for regionalism or religion or any such issue. He/She stood for stability and a working government or leader – who was seen as the one who will provide stability, security and economic growth. BJP and much touted Thrid front were taught a lesson. Now imagine, had there been a party that promised liberal economy, abolition of archaic controls, that is truly secular, with strict inner party democracy – young liberal Indian voters would have sought such a party over Congress which mostly benefited by the absence of it. There are enough Socialist parties in India that can counter balance a fully liberal party. If one looks at what erstwhile Swatantra party stood for, he/she will agree that no other party can fit the above requirement to the ‘T’ as does Swatantra. Why it died? It came much ahead of its time as did most of Rajaji’s endeavours. It had tall leaders / wise men / selfless patriots / true parliamentarians but there was no mass leader, no crowd puller in its ranks. It could not withstand the Nehru’s charm and his hold over Indian public. Nehru could easily snigger and denigrate the party as the party of rich men and royals, people just believed it. It required a P.V.Narasimha Rao – Manmohan Singh combo to break the Nehruvian stranglehold on India which Swatantra party always wanted to do but could never do. BJP pursued a liberal economic policy to carry forward most of PVN-Singh’s agenda. Now though Manmohan Singh leads the country, he can never bring that magic again with the Nehru-Gandhi family influence stiffling him. BJP with its non-secular baggage can never be a good alternative though their economic policies match that of Swatantra. S, it is high time we revive Swatantra party and get a credible Secular alternative to Congress.

I am fairly amused in reading this dated website and as I write now in 2010, I think NM reviving swantra party appears to have been a hoax.Be that as it may, I think the ideals preached by RAJAJI as many here opied were far and away the most far sighted.I wish the young intelegentia in India have access to his writing especially his letters to Nehru which were an eye opener on objective analysis of many important issues.It was said that Rajaji’s intellect was even sought after by Mahatma and I don;t think enough can be said about this great statesman.NM certainly has credentials but has he distanced himself enough from this kongress kitsmisch especially his invite to that nomadic Sonia for an inaugration is to me a dubious act!! There in lies the problem for this country because the real brains who can make a difference is either wimpy or confused!!

It will be a welcome step if a noticeable positive change can be brought about in our political and burecratic functioning which will help all the citizens of the country and if it means a solution to most of the problems the country is facing.

As such a total new faces known for integrity, honesty enters politics and takes over the administration of the country is a welcome step. Our people should wake up and vote without being carried away by caste, money, creed, regional, language and other similar factors influencing them in voting. Also the educated and other who normally donot vote enmass should whole heartedly support such new initiative in the overall interest of the country.

We have very little choice in electing our representatives.
A few honest men/women can change the face of Indian Politics by reviving the Swatantra Party. NM has tremendous good will, is respected for his integrity and is a person who can get things done, hence his reviving the once glorious party is wholly welcome. The task is very tough but doable. Best wishes NM.

Luckily the rumour seems to have died a natural death now. In the rotten political system prevalent in Karnataka and the country, Narayana Murthy and Jerry Rao would have failed miserably. Their party, which would have been promptly branded as Bomman’s Party would not have won even a single seat!